CN111371634A

CN111371634A - Communication method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN111371634A
Application number: CN201811603171.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王剑峰
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-12-26
Filing date: 2018-12-26
Publication date: 2020-07-03
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-26
Also published as: CN111371634B; WO2020135087A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a communication method, a communication device and a communication system, relates to the technical field of communication, and can solve the problem that the numerical value of an out-of-order message cannot be determined by the existing method. Specifically, after receiving at least one packet from a second device in the MPLS network via a transmission link, a first device in the MPLS network identifies a first label of each packet, reads a sequence number of each packet, and determines a quality parameter of the transmission link according to the read sequence number. Here, each of the at least one message includes a first tag, the first tag includes a sequence number of the message, and the quality parameter includes at least one of a value of an out-of-order message, a value of a lost message, or a value of a repeated message.

Description

Communication method, device and system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, and system.

Background

In order to ensure normal operation of the service, a method of sending a packet in an analog manner (such as a two-way active measurement protocol (TWAMP) technology) is used to detect quality of a transmission link in a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) network, or quality of a transmission link in an MPLS network is detected based on a real service (such as an IP flow performance measurement (IPFPM) technology).

The TWAMP technology can determine values of delay, jitter and lost messages, but cannot determine values of out-of-order messages, and the technology is not based on service messages and cannot truly reflect service conditions of clients. The IPFPM technique can determine the value and delay of a lost packet, but cannot determine the value and jitter of an out-of-order packet. In summary, for the MPLS network, the accuracy of the quality of the transmission link determined by the existing method is low.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication system, which are used for solving the problem that the numerical value of an out-of-order message cannot be determined by the existing method.

In order to achieve the purpose, the technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to an MPLS network including a first device and a second device. Specifically, after receiving at least one packet from the second device via the transmission link, the first device identifies a first tag of each packet, reads a serial number of each packet, and then determines a quality parameter of the transmission link according to the read serial number of each packet. The quality parameter includes at least one of a value of an out-of-order packet, a value of a lost packet, or a value of a repeated packet. In the present application, each of at least one message received by a first device includes a first label, where the first label includes a sequence number of the message.

The serial numbers of the messages are used for indicating the sequence of the messages sent by the second device, each message received by the first device of the application comprises a first label, and each first label comprises the serial number of the message, so that the numerical value of the out-of-order message, the numerical value of the lost message or the numerical value of the repeated message can be accurately determined after the first device reads the serial number of each message received by the first device, and the accuracy of the quality of the transmission link is effectively improved.

In a possible implementation manner of the present application, the method for determining the value of the out-of-order packet by the first device is as follows: the first device determines a first value (specifically, a value of a packet satisfying a first preset condition in the at least one packet), and determines the first value as a value of an out-of-order packet. The first preset condition of the application is as follows: pre-curr is less than a preset threshold value, or curr-pre is greater than the preset threshold value; wherein curr represents a serial number of a first message (any one of at least one message), pre represents a serial number of a second message (a previous message of the first message received by the first device), and 1 is smaller than a preset threshold and smaller than a preset maximum serial number.

The possible implementation mode effectively and simply determines the numerical value of the out-of-order message. Of course, the first device in the present application may also determine the numerical value of the out-of-order packet in other ways according to the read serial number of each packet, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, the method for determining the value of the lost packet by the first device is as follows: the first device determines a second value (specifically, a value of a packet satisfying a second preset condition in at least one packet), so that the first device can determine the difference value of the values of the out-of-order packets of the second value as the value of the lost packet. The second preset condition of the present application is: the curr-pre is more than 1 and less than or equal to a preset threshold value, or the preset threshold value is less than or equal to pre-curr and less than a preset maximum serial number; wherein curr represents a serial number of a first message (any one of at least one message), pre represents a serial number of a second message (a previous message of the first message received by the first device), and 1 is smaller than a preset threshold and smaller than a preset maximum serial number.

It can be understood that if a message is lost, the message will be out of order, and the out-of-order message is only in order and is not lost, so that, to ensure the accuracy of the value of the lost message, the first device needs to determine the first value and obtain the value of the out-of-order message, and further, the first device determines the difference between the first value and the value of the out-of-order message as the real value of the lost message. The possible implementation manner effectively determines the numerical value of the lost message. Of course, the first device in the present application may also determine the numerical value of the lost packet in other manners according to the read serial number of each packet, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, the method for determining the value of the out-of-order packet by the first device is as follows: the first device determines a third value (specifically, a value of a packet satisfying a third preset condition in at least one packet), and determines the third value as a value of a repeat packet. A third preset condition of the present application is curr ═ pre, where curr represents a serial number of a first packet (any one of at least one packet), and pre represents a serial number of a second packet (a previous packet of the first packet received by the first device).

For a sender (e.g., a second device), the sequence number of each packet sent by the sender is different. Therefore, if the serial number of a certain message received by the first device is the same as the serial number of the previous message of the message received by the first device, it indicates that the message is the same as the previous message, and the message is a duplicate message. The possible implementation effectively determines the value of the repeated message.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, the first tag further includes a timestamp of a packet, and correspondingly, after the first tag of each packet is identified, the first device may further read the timestamp of each packet, and obtain the sending time and the receiving time of each packet according to the timestamp of each packet, so that for each packet, the first device determines the difference between the receiving time of the packet and the sending time of the packet as the time delay of the packet.

Further optionally, the first device may further determine an average delay according to the delay of each packet.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, for each packet, after calculating the delay of the packet, the first device may further determine, as the jitter of the packet, a difference between the delay of the packet and the delay of a previous packet of the packet received by the first device.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, the first device further sends, to the second device, a communication mode for indicating that the first device has the capability of processing the first tag and indicating that the second device communicates with the first device, where the at least one message is a message sent by the second device to the first device in the communication mode.

The communication mode of the present application may be a tunnel mode or a transport mode. And if the communication mode is the tunnel mode, the second equipment encapsulates the first label to all messages to be sent to the first equipment. If the communication mode is the transmission mode, the second device encapsulates some specific messages (such as messages with transmission addresses being preset addresses, the transmission addresses being source addresses of the messages and/or destination addresses of the messages) to be sent to the first device with the first label.

The first device and the second device can adopt different communication modes for communication, and the actual requirements are well met.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, each of the messages further includes a second label used for indicating that the first label does not participate in the load sharing calculation, and the second label is located on an outer layer of the first label.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, the first device may further determine the quality of the transmission link according to the determination of at least one of the quality parameter, the time delay, and the jitter.

In summary, in different possible implementation manners, the first device may determine at least one of a numerical value of an out-of-order packet, a numerical value of a repeated packet, or a numerical value of a lost packet according to a sequence number in the first tag of each packet, and may also determine a delay and/or jitter according to a timestamp in the first tag of each packet. Compared with the prior art, in the communication method provided by the application, the first equipment can determine more parameters, and the accuracy of the quality of the transmission link is effectively improved.

In a second aspect, a communication device is provided, which is capable of implementing the functions of the first aspect and any one of its possible implementations. These functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

In one possible implementation manner of the present application, the communication device may include a receiving unit and a processing unit, and the receiving unit and the processing unit may perform corresponding functions in the communication method of the first aspect and any one of the possible implementation manners thereof. For example: a receiving unit, configured to receive at least one packet from a second device via a transmission link, where each packet in the at least one packet includes a first tag, and the first tag includes a sequence number of the packet; and the processing unit is used for identifying the first label of each message received by the receiving unit, reading the serial number of each message, and determining the quality parameter of the transmission link according to the read serial number, wherein the quality parameter comprises at least one of the numerical value of the out-of-order message, the numerical value of the lost message or the numerical value of the repeated message.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to an MPLS network including a first device and a second device. Specifically, the second device receives indication information which is sent by the first device and used for indicating that the first device has the capability of processing the first tag and indicating a communication mode of the second device for communicating with the first device; and under the condition that the second equipment has the capability of processing the first label, the second equipment packages the first label comprising the serial number of the message for the message to be sent according to the communication mode indicated by the indication information, and sends the packaged message to the first equipment. The serial number of the packet in the first tag is used by the first device to determine a quality parameter of a transmission link (a link between the first device and the second device), where the quality parameter includes at least one of a value of an out-of-order packet, a value of a lost packet, or a value of a repeated packet, so that after the second device sends the encapsulated packet to the first device, the first device can identify the serial number in the first tag and determine the quality parameter of the transmission link according to the serial number, thereby effectively improving the accuracy of the quality of the transmission link.

In one possible implementation manner of the present application, the communication mode of the present application is a tunnel mode or a transmission mode. And if the communication mode is the tunnel mode, the messages to be sent are all messages sent to the first equipment by the second equipment. If the communication mode is the transmission mode, the message to be sent is a message with a transmission address (a source address of the message and/or a destination address of the message) as a preset address in all messages sent to the first device by the second device. And if the communication mode is the transmission mode, the second equipment also determines a message to be sent.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, if the communication between the second device and the first device is in a target scenario (virtual private network (VPN) scenario or Label Switching Path (LSP) scenario), the second device further encapsulates a third label for a packet to be sent; if the target scene is a VPN scene, the third label is a VPN label; and if the target scene is an LSP scene, the third label is an LSP label. Correspondingly, the method for encapsulating the first label for the message to be sent by the second device includes: the second device encapsulates the first label on an outer layer of the third label.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, the second device further encapsulates, for the packet to be sent, a second label used for indicating that the first label does not participate in the load sharing calculation, where the second label is located on an outer layer of the first label.

In another possible implementation manner of the present application, the first tag further includes a timestamp of a packet used for the first device to determine at least one of latency and jitter.

To sum up, the second device packages the first label for the message to be sent, and then sends the packaged message to the first device. In different possible implementation manners, the first device may determine at least one of a numerical value of an out-of-order packet, a numerical value of a repeated packet, or a numerical value of a lost packet according to a serial number in the first tag of each packet, and may also determine a delay of each packet and/or jitter of each packet according to a timestamp in the first tag of each packet. Compared with the prior art, in the communication method provided by the application, the first equipment can determine more parameters, and the accuracy of the quality of the transmission link is effectively improved.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a communication device capable of implementing the functions of the third aspect and any one of its possible implementations. These functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

In one possible manner of this application, the communication device may include a receiving unit, a processing unit, and a transmitting unit, and the receiving unit, the processing unit, and the transmitting unit may perform corresponding functions in the communication method of the third aspect and any one of the possible implementations thereof. For example: the receiving unit is used for receiving indication information sent by the first equipment, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that the first equipment has the capability of processing the first label and indicating a communication mode for the second equipment to communicate with the first equipment; the processing unit is configured to encapsulate a first label for a to-be-sent message according to a communication mode indicated by the indication information received by the receiving unit under the condition that the second device has a capability of processing the first label, where the first label includes a serial number of the message, the serial number of the message is used by the first device to determine a quality parameter of a transmission link, the quality parameter includes at least one of a value of an out-of-order message, a value of a lost message, or a value of a repeated message, and the transmission link is a link between the first device and the second device; and the sending unit is used for sending the packaged message obtained by the processing unit to the first equipment.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, the communication device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory being coupled to the processor; the memory is configured to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the computer instructions, the communication apparatus executes the communication method according to the first aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, or executes the communication method according to the third aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes a transceiver, where the transceiver is configured to perform, under control of a processor of the communication apparatus, the step of transceiving data, signaling, or information in the communication method according to the first aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, or perform the step of transceiving data, signaling, or information in the communication method according to the third aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect, for example, receive at least one message and send indication information.

The communication device may be any node in the MPLS network, such as a Provider edge node or a service Provider (P) node, or may be a part of a node in the MPLS network, such as a system-on-chip in the Provider edge node. The chip system is configured to support a provider edge node to implement the functions of the first aspect and any one of its possible implementations, or to perform the functions of the third aspect and any one of its possible implementations, for example, to receive, transmit, or process data and/or information involved in the communication method. The chip system includes a chip and may also include other discrete devices or circuit structures.

In a sixth aspect, there is also provided a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein; the instructions, when executed on the communication device, cause the communication device to perform the communication method as described in the above first aspect and its various possible implementations, or to perform the communication method as described in the above third aspect and any one of its possible implementations.

In a seventh aspect, there is also provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a communication apparatus, cause the communication apparatus to perform the communication method according to the first aspect and its various possible implementations, or to perform the communication method according to the third aspect and any one of its possible implementations.

It should be noted that all or part of the above instructions may be stored on the first computer storage medium, where the first computer storage medium may be packaged together with the processor of the communication device, or may be packaged separately from the processor of the communication device, and this application is not limited in this respect.

For a detailed description of the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect, the seventh aspect and various implementations thereof in the present application, reference may be made to the detailed description of the first aspect and various implementations thereof above, or to the detailed description of the third aspect and various implementations thereof above; moreover, for the beneficial effects of the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect, the seventh aspect and various implementation manners thereof, reference may be made to the beneficial effect analysis in the first aspect and various implementation manners thereof, or to the beneficial effect analysis in the third aspect and various implementation manners thereof, and details are not described here again.

An eighth aspect provides a communication system comprising the communication apparatus according to the second aspect and any one of its possible implementation manners, and the communication apparatus according to the fourth aspect and any one of its possible implementation manners.

In the present application, the names of the above-mentioned communication means do not limit the devices or functional modules themselves, which may appear by other names in actual implementations. Insofar as the functions of the respective devices or functional modules are similar to those of the present application, they fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents.

These and other aspects of the present application will be more readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a first schematic structural diagram of a communication system including an MPLS network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system including an MPLS network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4A is a first flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4B is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a format of a packet in which an EMSTI label is added in an LSP scene in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a format of a message in which an EMSTI label is added in a VPN scenario in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a third schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a fourth flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a format of an LDP TLV in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a first schematic view illustrating a processing flow of a packet in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a fifth flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a processing flow of a message in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a RSVP label request class format in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic format diagram of a BGP TLV in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a first schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

In the following, the terms "first", "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

MPLS is a technology that exchanges and forwards packets through a label (table), which can support multiple protocols, for example: label Distribution Protocol (LDP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol, resource reservation protocol (RSVP), Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), and the like. Thus, an MPLS network may be understood as a unified forwarding plane applicable to multiple protocols.

In an MPLS network, an MPLS packet may include a label stack (label stack) consisting of one or more label stack entries (label stack entries). Each label stack entry includes a label (label) field, a priority field (which may be represented by EXP), a bottom of stack field (which may be represented by S), and a lifetime field (which may be represented by TTL).

The tag field is a relatively short, fixed-length (typically 20 bits), usually only locally significant identifier (like a MAC address). The priority field generally occupies 3 bits for indicating the priority of the MPLS packet. The bottom of stack field typically occupies 1 bit to indicate whether the current label is at the bottom of the stack. The lifetime field generally occupies 8 bits to indicate whether the MPLS packet is valid, and if the value of the lifetime field is 0, it indicates that the MPLS packet has expired and should not be forwarded.

The MPLS network includes a provider edge ingress (ingress PE) node and an provider edge egress (egrress PE) node. The service provider edge access node is connected to a transmitting end customer edge device (CE), and is configured to receive a service packet sent by the transmitting end CE, add an MPLS label to the service packet, and send a packet to which the MPLS label is added. The service provider edge egress node is connected to a receiving end customer edge device (CE), and configured to receive a packet to which an MPLS label is added, remove (pop) the MPLS label, and send the packet with the label removed to the receiving end CE.

The service provider edge ingress node and the service provider edge egress node may be routers, and the transmitting end CE and the receiving end CE may both be routers, switches, or hosts.

Optionally, the MPLS network may further include at least one service Provider (P) node. The P nodes have basic MPLS forwarding capabilities. The P node may be a router.

When communication among a service provider edge ingress node, a P node and a service provider edge egress node is in a Virtual Private Network (VPN) scenario, after receiving a packet carrying an MPLS label sent by an upstream device, the P node directly forwards the packet to a downstream device.

When communication among a service provider edge ingress node, a P node and a service provider edge egress node is in a Label Switching Path (LSP) scenario, after receiving a packet carrying an MPLS label sent by an upstream device, the P node replaces the MPLS label with an MPLS label allocated to the P node by a downstream device, and sends the packet with the updated label to the downstream device.

Illustratively, fig. 1 shows one architecture of a communication system including an MPLS network. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system includes CE 1, CE 2, a provider edge node 1, a provider edge node 2, and a P node, where the provider edge node 1, the provider edge node 2, and the P node are located in an MPLS network. The service provider edge node 1 is connected with the CE 1 and the P node, and the service provider edge node 2 is connected with the CE 2 and the P node.

In connection with fig. 1, fig. 2 shows another architecture of a communication system comprising an MPLS network. As shown in fig. 2, the communication system includes CE 1, CE 2, provider edge node 1, provider edge node 2, P node, and Network Management System (NMS). The service provider edge node 1, the service provider edge node 2 and the P node are all located in the MPLS network, and the NMS is connected with each node in the MPLS network. The NMS manages each node in the MPLS network.

Optionally, in fig. 1 or fig. 2, the provider edge node 1 may be an edge ingress node of the MPLS network, and correspondingly, the provider edge node 2 is an edge egress node of the MPLS network, the CE 1 is a sending end of the service packet, and the CE 2 is a receiving end of the service packet; the service provider edge node 1 may also be an edge egress node of the MPLS network, and correspondingly, the service provider edge node 2 is an edge ingress node of the MPLS network, the CE 1 is a receiving end of the service packet, and the CE 2 is a transmitting end of the service packet.

The communication between the devices shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 may be in a VPN scenario or in an LSP scenario, which is not specifically limited in this application.

It is to be understood that the communication system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 is only an example and is not a limitation of the communication system. In practical applications, the structure of the communication system may exist in various forms.

At present, in order to ensure normal operation of services, a TWAMP technology or an IPFPM technology is used to detect the quality of a transmission link in an MPLS network. However, the TWAMP technique and the IPFPM technique determine the quality of the transmission link with low accuracy.

Therefore, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, in which a first label including a sequence number of a packet is added to the packet, so that a node (taking a first device as an example) in an MPLS network, which has a function of processing the first label, determines at least one of a value of an out-of-order packet, a value of a lost packet, or a value of a repeated packet according to the sequence number of the packet, thereby effectively improving accuracy of quality of a transmission link.

Further optionally, the first tag in this embodiment of the application may further include a timestamp of the packet, so that the first device may determine the delay and/or jitter according to the timestamp of the packet.

In summary, in different implementation manners, the first device may determine at least one of a value of an out-of-order packet, a value of a repeated packet, or a value of a lost packet according to a sequence number in the first tag of each packet, and may also determine a delay and/or jitter according to a timestamp in the first tag of each packet. Compared with the prior art, the communication method provided by the application can determine more parameters, and effectively improves the accuracy of the quality of the transmission link.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the application is suitable for the communication system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2.

Each of the devices shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2, such as CE 1, provider edge node 1, P node, provider edge node 2, CE 2, belongs to a communication apparatus. In a specific implementation, the communication device has the components shown in fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 3, the communication device may include at least one processor 31, a memory 32, a communication interface 33, and a communication bus 34. The following specifically describes each constituent element of the communication apparatus with reference to fig. 3:

the processor 31 is a control center of the communication apparatus, and may be a single processor or a collective term for a plurality of processing elements. For example, the processor 31 is a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and may also be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, such as: one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

The processor 31 may perform various functions of the communication device by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 32, and calling data stored in the memory 32, among other things.

In a particular implementation, processor 31 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU 0 and CPU 1 shown in FIG. 3, as one embodiment.

In particular implementations, the communication device may include multiple processors, such as processor 31 and processor 35 shown in fig. 3, as one embodiment. Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (core processor) or a multi-core processor (core processor). A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

The memory 32 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that may store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer. The memory 32 may be self-contained and coupled to the processor 31 via a communication bus 34. The memory 32 may also be integrated with the processor 31.

The memory 32 is used for storing a software program for executing the scheme of the application, and the software program is executed by the processor 31.

A communication interface 33 for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), etc. The communication interface 33 may include a receiving unit implementing a receiving function and a transmitting unit implementing a transmitting function.

The communication bus 34 may be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended ISA (EISA) bus, or the like. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 3, but this does not mean only one bus or one type of bus.

It is noted that the device structure shown in fig. 3 does not constitute a limitation of the communication apparatus, which may comprise more or less components than those shown in fig. 3, or a combination of some components, or a different arrangement of components, in addition to those shown in fig. 3.

The following describes a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application with reference to the communication system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 and the communication apparatus shown in fig. 3. Each device mentioned in the following method embodiments may have a component shown in fig. 3, and is not described again.

For convenience of description, the following contents mainly take CE 1 in fig. 1 or fig. 2 as a sending end of a service packet, a provider edge node 1 as an edge ingress node of an MPLS network, a provider edge node 2 as an edge egress node of the MPLS network, and CE 2 as a receiving end of the service packet as an example for explanation.

Fig. 4A is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 4A, the method may include:

s400, the first device sends indication information to the second device.

The indication information is used for indicating that the first device has the capability of processing the first label and indicating a communication mode of the second device for communicating with the first device.

Similar to the MPLS label, the first label in the embodiment of the present application includes a priority field, a bottom of stack field, and a lifetime field. The priority field, the bottom of stack field, and the lifetime field may refer to the description of the MPLS label stack entry, which is not described in detail herein.

In addition to the priority field, the bottom of stack field, and the lifetime field, the first label further includes a sequence number field of the packet, and the sequence number field of the packet is used to indicate a sequence number of the packet. For a sending end (such as a second device), sequence numbers of messages sent by the sending end are arranged in sequence from small to large or from large to small.

For convenience of understanding, in the embodiment of the present application, a transmitting end sends messages in an order from small to large in sequence number is taken as an example for description.

Illustratively, the length of the sequence number field of the packet is 32 bits.

Optionally, the first tag may further include a timestamp field, and the timestamp field is used for recording the sending time and the receiving time of the packet.

Illustratively, the timestamp field is 32 bits in length.

In a specific embodiment, the communication mode between the first device and the second device is a tunnel mode or a transmission mode. And if the communication mode is the tunnel mode, the second equipment encapsulates the first label to all messages sent to the first equipment. If the communication mode is the transmission mode, the second device encapsulates the first label for the message with the transmission address as the preset address in all the messages sent to the first device by the second device, wherein the transmission address is the source address of the message and/or the target address of the message.

The first device in this embodiment may be a service provider edge egress node, or may be a certain P node in an MPLS network.

Specifically, in a scenario where a P node does not exist in the MPLS network, the first device is a provider edge egress node, and the second device is a provider edge ingress node.

In a scenario where multiple P nodes exist in the MPLS network, the first device may be a provider edge egress node, and the second device is an upstream node of the provider edge egress node (i.e., a P node connected to the provider edge egress node); the first device may also be a certain P node, and the second device is an upstream node of the P node (the upstream node may be another P node or a service provider edge ingress node); the first device may also be a provider edge egress node, and the second device may be a provider edge ingress node (at this time, the P node in the MPLS network does not have the capability of processing the first label).

Optionally, the indication information includes first information for indicating that the first device has the capability of processing the first tag and second information for indicating that the second device communicates with the first device according to the communication mode.

In one implementation manner, a method for sending, by a first device, indication information to a second device is: the first equipment sends first information to the second equipment; correspondingly, after determining that the second device also has the capability of processing the first tag, the second device sends a reply message to the first device, so as to inform the first device that the second device has the capability of processing the first tag; thereafter, the first device determines the second information and sends the second information to the second device.

In another implementation manner, a method for sending, by a first device, indication information to a second device is: the first device sends a message 1 comprising the first information and the second information to the second device.

S401, when the second device has the capability of processing the first label, the second device sends a confirmation message to the first device.

If the first device sends the first information and the second information to the second device respectively, after receiving the first information, the second device already sends a reply message to the first device, wherein the reply message is used for indicating that the second device has the capability of processing the first tag. Accordingly, the second device may send, after receiving the second information, an acknowledgement message to the first device indicating that the second device will communicate with the first device according to the communication mode indicated by the second information. Optionally, the acknowledgement message is an ACK message or a message including an OK field, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

And if the first device simultaneously sends the first information and the second information to the second device, the second device determines whether the second device has the capability of processing the first label or not after receiving the message 1. And if the second equipment has the capability of processing the first label, the second equipment sends an acknowledgement message to the first equipment, wherein the acknowledgement message is used for indicating that the second equipment has the capability of processing the first label, and the second equipment communicates with the first equipment according to the communication mode indicated by the second information. If the second device does not have the capability of processing the first label, the second device is a certain P node in the MPLS network, and both an upstream node and a downstream node of the node have the capability of processing the first label, the P node needs to send a "type-length-value (TLV) for the downstream node to process the first label" to the upstream node, so as to implement negotiation between the upstream node and the downstream node on the communication mode. For the case that the second device does not have the capability of processing the first label and is the provider edge ingress node in the MPLS network, this is not applicable to the embodiment of the present application, and is not described here.

S402, the second equipment packages a first label for each message to be sent according to the communication mode indicated by the indication information.

As can be seen from the above description, if the communication mode indicated by the indication information is the tunnel mode, the second device encapsulates the first label to all packets sent to the first device. Therefore, after S401, the second device determines each message sent to the first device as a message to be sent, and encapsulates a first tag for each message to be sent.

If the communication mode indicated by the indication information is the transmission mode, the second device encapsulates the first label for the message with the transmission address as the preset address in all messages sent by the second device to the first device. Therefore, after S401, the second device needs to determine the message to be sent from all the messages sent to the first device, and then the second device encapsulates the first label for each message to be sent.

The content of the first tag may refer to the description in S400, and is not described in detail here.

As can be seen from the above description, the communication between the first device and the second device may be in an LSP scenario or a VPN scenario. Specifically, if the communication between the first device and the second device is in an LSP scenario, the second device further encapsulates an LSP label for each to-be-sent packet; if the communication between the first device and the second device is in a VPN scenario, the second device further encapsulates a VPN label for each message to be sent.

The second device packages an LSP label (or a VPN label) for each packet to be sent, which is the prior art, and specific reference may be made to the description of the prior art, which is not described in detail here.

In an implementation manner, when communication between first equipment and second equipment is in an LSP scenario, the second equipment encapsulates a first label on an outer layer of an LSP label of each message to be sent; when the communication between the first device and the second device is in a VPN scenario, the second device encapsulates the first label on the outer layer of the VPN label of each message to be sent.

S403 (optional), the second device encapsulates a second label for each message to be sent.

The second label is used for indicating that the first label does not participate in the load sharing calculation, so that other nodes in the MPLS network do not utilize the first label to perform the load sharing calculation after receiving the message encapsulated with the second label. The load sharing calculation performed by the node is performed in the prior art, and is not described in detail here.

Optionally, the second label belongs to a reservation label, for example, the second label is reservation label 11.

In a particular implementation, the second device encapsulates the second label on an outer layer of the first label.

If the combination of the first label and the second label is called an enhanced MPLS service switching index (EMSTI) label, fig. 5 shows a format of a packet in which the second device encapsulates the EMSTI label in an LSP scenario, and fig. 6 shows a format of a packet in which the second device encapsulates the EMSTI label in a VPN scenario. In addition to the EMSTI label, the messages shown in fig. 5 and 6 further include a public network Destination Address (DA) field, a public network Source Address (SA) field, a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) ID, an 8847 field, an LSP label, a VPN label, a payload, and a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) field. The above field definitions can refer to the field definitions of the existing MPLS network, and are not described in detail here.

S404, the second device sends at least one packaged message to the first device through the transmission link.

Accordingly, the first device receives at least one message from the second device via the transmission link. Each message received by the first device includes a first label. Optionally, each message received by the first device further includes a second tag.

S405, the first equipment identifies the first label of each message and reads the serial number of each message in the at least one message.

As can be seen from the above description, the first tag includes a sequence number field of the message, so that, upon identifying the first tag of each message, the first device can read the sequence number of each message in the at least one message.

S406, the first device determines the quality parameters of the transmission link according to the read serial number of each message.

The transmission link is a link between the first device and the second device, and the quality parameter of the transmission link includes at least one of a value of an out-of-order packet, a value of a lost packet, or a value of a repeated packet.

The method for determining the value of the out-of-order message by the first device may be: the first device determines a value (i.e., a first value) of a message satisfying a first preset condition in at least one message as a value of an out-of-order message.

Wherein the first preset condition is as follows: pre-curr is less than a preset threshold value, or the curr-pre is more than the preset threshold value. Here, curr represents a serial number of a first packet (any packet in at least one packet), pre represents a serial number of a second packet (a packet immediately preceding the first packet received by the first device), and 1 < a preset threshold < a preset maximum serial number.

The preset threshold of the present application may be a roll-over length value of the serial number. As can be seen from the above description, the sequence number field of the packet in the first tag occupies 32 bits, so that the preset maximum sequence number may be 4294967295(0 xfffffffff). The sequence number of the message has a maximum value and a minimum value, and if the sequence number of the current message sent by the second device is the preset maximum sequence number, the sequence number of the next message sent by the second device should be the preset minimum sequence number, so that the sequence number of the message is turned over. Correspondingly, the length of the serial number can be set to be a preset threshold, that is, the default value of the continuous out-of-order message does not exceed the preset threshold. Illustratively, the preset threshold is 2147483647(0x7 fffffff).

Of course, the first device in this embodiment may also determine the value of the out-of-order packet in other manners, which is not described herein any more.

The method for determining the value of the lost packet by the first device may be: the first device determines a value (i.e., a second value) of a packet satisfying a second preset condition in at least one packet, and obtains a value of an out-of-order packet (the value can be obtained as described above), so that the first device can determine the value of the lost packet as a difference between the second value and the value of the out-of-order packet.

Wherein the second preset condition is as follows: the curr-pre is more than 1 and less than or equal to a preset threshold value, or the preset threshold value is less than or equal to the pre-curr and less than or equal to a preset maximum serial number. The definitions of curr and pre may refer to the above description, and the value range of the preset threshold may also refer to the above description, which is not described in detail here.

It can be understood that if a message is lost, the message will be out of order, and the out-of-order message is only in order and is not lost, so that, in order to ensure the accuracy of the value of the lost message, the first device needs to obtain the value of the out-of-order message after determining the first value, and further, the first device determines the difference value between the first value and the value of the out-of-order message as the real value of the lost message.

Optionally, the "method for determining the second value by the first device may be: if the curr-pre is more than 1 and less than or equal to the preset threshold, the first equipment updates the second value k as: the stored value of k + curr-pre-1, i.e. k + ═ curr-pre-1; if the preset threshold is less than or equal to pre-curr and less than the preset maximum serial number, the first equipment updates the second value k as: the stored value of k + the preset maximum sequence number + curr-pre, i.e. k + ═ the preset maximum sequence number + curr-pre, the initial value of the second value is 0.

The method for determining the value of the repeated message by the first device may be: the first device determines a value (i.e., a third value) of a packet satisfying a third predetermined condition among the at least one packet, and determines the value as a value of the repeated packet.

The third preset condition is curr ═ pre. The definitions of curr and pre can be referred to above and will not be described in detail here.

Optionally, the method for determining the third value by the first device is as follows: if curr is equal to pre, the first device updates the third value to: the stored third value is +1, and the initial value of the third value is 0.

Further optionally, the first tag in this embodiment of the present application may further include a timestamp. In this way, the first device may further read the timestamp of each packet to obtain the sending time and the receiving time of each packet, and further determine at least one of the delay and the jitter according to the sending time and the receiving time of each packet.

With reference to fig. 4A, as shown in fig. 4B, in addition to S400 to S406, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include:

s407 (optional), the first device reads the timestamp of each packet.

S408 (optional), the first device obtains the sending time and the receiving time of each packet according to the timestamp of each packet, and determines the delay and/or jitter.

Optionally, for each packet, the first device determines a difference between the receiving time of the packet and the sending time of the packet as the time delay of the packet.

Illustratively, if the first device receives 4 messages, the 4 messages are respectively: message a, message b, message c and message d; when the first device calculates the delay T1 of the message a, the delay T2 of the message b, the delay T3 of the message c, and the delays of the message d are respectively as follows: t1 ═ arive [ a ] -Send [ a ], T2 ═ arive [ b ] -Send [ b ], T3 ═ arive [ c ] -Send [ c ], T4 ═ arive [ d ] -Send [ d ].

Of course, the first device may also calculate the average time delay T, for example:

T＝{(Arrive[a]-Send[a])+(Arrive[b]-Send[b])+(Arrive[c]-Send[c])+(Arrive[d]-Send[d])}/4

optionally, for each packet, the first device determines a difference between the delay of the packet and the delay of the previous packet of the packet received by the first device as the jitter of the packet.

Illustratively, if the first device receives a packet a and a packet b in sequence, J [ a ] is used to represent the time delay of the packet a, and J [ b ] is used to represent the time delay of the packet b, where J [ a ] ═ arive [ a ] -Send [ a ], and J [ b ] ═ arive [ b ] -Send [ b ], the first device calculates the jitter D ═ J [ b ] -J [ a ].

Since S407 and S408 are optional steps, they are indicated by broken lines in fig. 4B.

Further optionally, in the communication system shown in fig. 2, after determining the relevant parameters (such as the quality parameter, the delay, and the jitter), the first device may further determine the quality of the transmission link according to the determined parameters, and send the quality of the transmission link to the NMS, so that an operation and maintenance person of the NMS can maintain the first device or the second device in time.

Or after determining the relevant parameters (such as the quality parameters, the time delay, and the jitter), the first device may further send the determined parameters to the NMS, so that the NMS can determine the quality of the transmission link according to the parameters, and further, the operation and maintenance personnel of the NMS can maintain the first device or the second device in time.

With reference to fig. 4B, as shown in fig. 7, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include S701 or S702:

s701, the first device sends the determined parameters to the NMS.

S702, the first device determines the quality of the transmission link according to the determined parameters, and sends the quality of the transmission link to the NMS.

Optionally, if the first device determines the value of the out-of-order packet, the value of the repeated packet, the value of the lost packet, the time delay, and the jitter, the first device may calculate the quality of the transmission link according to a preset weight value of each parameter. Of course, the first device may also determine the quality of the transmission link in other manners, which is not described herein again.

In order to more clearly understand the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the communication method is described in detail below with reference to fig. 8 and 11.

The flows shown in fig. 8 and fig. 11 are each exemplified by encapsulating the first tag and the second tag (i.e., encapsulating the EMSTI tag) in the packet, where the first tag includes a sequence number and a timestamp of the packet.

The MPLS network includes PE 1, P node, and PE2 as an example, where PE 1 represents a provider edge ingress node, PE2 represents a provider edge egress node, and P node represents an intermediate node between PE 1 and PE2, and the P node is connected to both PE 1 and PE 2. The transmission link between the P node and the PE 1 is a transmission link 1, and the transmission link between the P node and the PE2 is a transmission link 2.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The flow shown in fig. 8 is applicable to label-supported LDP in MPLS networks, where the communication between PE 1, P-node, and PE2 is in an LSP scenario.

As shown in fig. 8, the communication method may include:

s800, the P node sends indication information 1 to the PE 1, and the PE2 sends indication information 2 to the P node.

The indication information 1 is used for indicating that the P node has the capability of processing the first label and indicating the communication mode of the P node for communicating with the PE 1.

The indication information 2 is used for indicating that the PE2 has the capability of processing the first tag, and indicating a communication mode in which the P node communicates with the PE 2.

When the P node sends the indication information 1 to the PE 1, the P node is the first device, and the PE 1 is the second device. When PE2 sends the indication information 2 to the P node, the P node is the second device, and PE2 is the first device.

The process of the P node sending the indication information 1 to the PE 1 and the process of the PE2 sending the indication information 2 to the P node may refer to the description of S400, which is not described in detail here.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the execution sequence of "the P node sends the indication information 1 to the PE 1" and "the PE2 sends the indication information 2 to the P node" is not limited.

Optionally, the indication information 1/indication information 2 is carried in the LSP signaling.

Illustratively, an LDP TLV is added in the LSP signaling, and the LDP TLV is used for carrying indication information 1/indication information 2 and is used for identifying that the device has the capability of processing the first label. Fig. 9 shows the format of the LDP TLV.

In fig. 9, "U" represents an unknown bit whose value is set to 1, and the receiving device ignores the LDP TLV if it does not recognize it; "F" represents a Forward bit (Forward bit) bit with a value set to 1, which if the receiving device forwards the LDP TLV hop-by-hop to the upstream device; "type" indicates the type of the first tag; "length" means the length of the LDP TLV; the "mode" indicates a communication mode between the transmitting device and the receiving device, and illustratively, 0x00 indicates a tunnel mode and 0x01 indicates a transmission mode. When the communication mode between the sending device and the receiving device is the tunnel mode, the 1/2/3/4/5/6/7 field is all set to 0, which indicates that the traffic flow characteristics are not distinguished, and the first label processing is performed on all the tunneled messages. When the communication mode between the transmitting device and the receiving device is the transmission mode, the 0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 field may be set to 1, and a field set to 1 indicates that the field in the traffic flow is valid.

S801, PE 1 sends a confirmation message 1 to the P node, and the P node sends a confirmation message 2 to PE 2.

In the embodiment of the present application, the execution sequence of "the PE 1 sends the acknowledgement message 1 to the P node" and "the P node sends the acknowledgement message 2 to the PE 2" is not limited.

S802, according to the communication mode indicated by the indication information 1, after the message a is obtained, the PE 1 encapsulates the LSP label 1 and the EMSTI label 1 for the message a to generate a message b.

The method for encapsulating the LSP label 1 for the packet a by the PE 1 may refer to a method for encapsulating an LSP label in the prior art, which is not described in detail herein.

The PE 1 encapsulates the EMSTI label 1 for the packet a, and the EMSTI label 1 is located on the outer layer of the LSP label 1.

For example, as shown in fig. 10, a packet a includes a payload, a private network SA, and a private network DA, after obtaining the packet a, the PE 1 encapsulates an LSP label 1 and an EMSTI label 1 for the packet a to generate a packet b, where the packet b includes the payload, the LSP label 1, the EMSTI label 1, a public network SA, and the public network DA.

S803, PE 1 sends message b to P node.

And S804, identifying and stripping the EMSTI tag 1 by the P node, and determining the quality parameter of the transmission link 1 according to the serial number and the timestamp in the EMSTI tag 1.

If the quality parameters of the transmission link 1 include the value of the out-of-order packet, the value of the lost packet, the value of the repeated packet, the time delay, and the jitter, the method for the P node to determine the value of the out-of-order packet may refer to the description of S406, the method for the P node to determine the value of the lost packet and the method for the repeated packet may refer to the description of S407, and the method for the P node to determine the time delay and the jitter may refer to the descriptions of S408 and S409, which is not described in detail herein.

And S805, the P node replaces the LSP label 1 with an LSP label 2 and adds an EMSTI label 2 to generate a message c.

The method for replacing LSP label 1 with LSP label 2 by P node may refer to a method for exchanging LSP labels by P node in the prior art, which is not described in detail herein.

For example, as shown in fig. 10, after receiving a packet b, a P node exchanges an LSP label and an EMSTI label in the packet b to generate a packet c, where the packet c includes a payload, an LSP label 2, an EMSTI label 2, a public network SA, and a public network DA.

S806, the P node sends a message c to the PE 2.

S807, PE2 identifies and strips the EMSTI label 2, and determines the quality parameter of the transmission link 2 according to the sequence number and the timestamp field in the EMSTI label 2.

If the quality parameters of the transmission link 2 include the value of the out-of-order packet, the value of the lost packet, the value of the repeated packet, the time delay, and the jitter, the method for determining the value of the out-of-order packet by the PE2 may refer to the description of S406, the method for determining the value of the lost packet and the method for determining the repeated packet by the PE2 may refer to the description of S407, and the method for determining the time delay and the jitter by the PE2 may refer to the descriptions of S408 and S409, which is not described in detail herein.

S808, the PE2 strips the LSP label 2 to obtain the message a.

For example, as shown in fig. 10, after receiving the message c, the PE2 strips the LSP label and the EMSTI label in the message c to obtain the message a.

Further optionally, after determining the quality parameter of the transmission link 1 (i.e. after S804), the P node may also send the quality parameter of the transmission link 1 to the NMS; after determining the quality parameters of transmission link 2 (i.e. after S807), PE2 may also send the quality parameters of transmission link 2 to the NMS.

As shown in fig. 8, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include S809 after S804, and may further include S810 after S807.

S809 (optional), the P node sends the quality parameter of the transmission link 1 to the NMS.

S810 (optional), PE2 sends the quality parameter of transmission link 2 to the NMS.

Since S809 and S810 are optional, they are indicated by a dashed box in fig. 8.

Further, when the label in the MPLS network supports LSP, the communication between PE 1, P node, and PE2 may also be in a VPN scenario. In the VPN scenario, PE 1 and PE 1 need to process the first label, and the P node does not need to identify the first label.

Fig. 11 shows a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application in this case. As shown in fig. 11, the communication method may include:

s110 and PE2 send instruction information to PE 1.

The process of sending the indication information from the PE2 to the PE 1 may refer to the description of S400, and details are not described here.

The indication information may be carried in an LDP TLV of the LSP signaling, where the LDP TLV may refer to the description of S800 or the format of fig. 9, and is not described in detail here.

S111, PE 1 sends confirmation information to PE 2.

S111 may refer to the description of S401 above, and will not be described in detail here.

And S112, according to the communication mode indicated by the indication information, after the message x is obtained, the PE 1 encapsulates the VPN label, the LSP label 1 and the EMSTI label for the message x to generate a message y.

The method for encapsulating the VPN label for the packet x by the PE 1 may refer to a method for encapsulating a VPN label in the prior art, and details are not described here.

The method for encapsulating the LSP label 1 for the packet x by the PE 1 may refer to a method for encapsulating LSP labels in the prior art, which is not described in detail herein.

The PE 1 encapsulates an EMSTI label for the packet x, and the EMSTI label is located on the outer layer of the LSP label 1.

For example, as shown in fig. 12, the packet x includes a payload, a private network SA, and a private network DA, and after obtaining the packet x, the PE 1 encapsulates a VPN label, an LSP label 1, and an EMSTI label for the packet x to generate a packet y, where the packet y includes the payload, the VPN label, the EMSTI label, the LSP label 1, a public network SA, and the public network DA.

S113, the PE 1 sends a message y to the P node.

And S114, replacing the LSP label 1 with an LSP label 2 by the P node to generate a message z.

For example, as shown in fig. 12, after receiving a packet y, a P node exchanges LSP labels in the packet y to generate a packet z, where the packet z includes a payload, a VPN label, an EMSTI label, an LSP label 2, a public network SA, and a public network DA.

S115, the P node sends a message z to the PE 2.

S116, the PE2 identifies and strips the EMSTI label, and determines the quality parameters of the transmission link between the PE 1 and the PE2 according to the sequence number and the timestamp field in the EMSTI label.

If the quality parameters of the transmission link between the PE 1 and the PE2 include the value of the out-of-order packet, the value of the lost packet, the value of the repeated packet, the time delay, and the jitter, the method for determining the value of the out-of-order packet by the PE2 may refer to the description of S406, the method for determining the value of the lost packet and the method for determining the repeated packet by the PE2 may refer to the description of S407, and the method for determining the time delay and the jitter by the PE2 may refer to the descriptions of S408 and S409, which is not described in detail here.

S117, the PE2 strips the VPN label and the LSP label 2 to obtain the message x.

For example, as shown in fig. 12, after receiving the message z, the PE2 strips the VPN label, the EMSTI label, and the LSP label 2 in the message z to obtain the message x.

Further optionally, after determining the quality parameter of the transmission link between PE 1 and PE2 (i.e. after S116), PE2 may also send the quality parameter of the transmission link to the NMS.

As shown in fig. 11, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include S118 after S116.

S118 (optional), PE2 sends the quality parameters of the transmission link between PE 1 and PE2 to the NMS.

Since S118 is optional, it is indicated by a dashed box in fig. 11.

As can be seen from the above description, labels in MPLS networks may support LDP, and may also support RSVP or BGP.

When labels in an MPLS network support RSVP, communication between devices in an MPLS network can only be in LSP scenarios. The flow of the communication method shown in fig. 8 is also applicable to this scenario.

In contrast, when the label in the MPLS network supports RSVP, indication 1/indication 2 is carried in RSVP signaling.

Illustratively, an RSVP label request class is added in RSVP signaling, and the RSVP label request class is used to carry indication information 1/indication information 2 for identifying that the device has the capability of processing the first label. Fig. 13 shows the format of the RSVP label request class.

As shown in fig. 13, the RSVP label request class includes a reservation field and a flow identification (flow ID) field. When sending the message, the value of the reserved field is set to 0. The flow identifier is dynamically applied by the first node of the message according to the characteristics of the IP flow and is used for identifying the service flow. If the value of the flow identifier is 0, the receiving end device performs the processing of the EMSTI label on all the messages sent by the sending end device.

When the label in the MPLS network supports BGP, the communication between devices in the MPLS network may be in an LSP scenario or in a VPN scenario.

The flow of the communication method illustrated in fig. 8 is also applicable to label-supported BGP in an MPLS network, and communication between devices in the MPLS network is in an LSP scenario.

The flow of the communication method illustrated in fig. 11 is also applicable to label-supported BGP in an MPLS network, and communication between devices in the MPLS network is in a VPN scenario.

In contrast, when the label in the MPLS network supports BGP, the indication information 1/indication information 2/indication information is carried in BGP signaling.

Illustratively, a BGP TLV is newly added in the BGP signaling, and the BGP TLV is used to carry indication information 1/indication information 2/indication information and is used to identify that the device has the capability of processing the first tag. Fig. 14 shows the format of a BGP TLV.

In fig. 14, a flag (flag) indicates optional delivery, a node may not have the capability of processing the first label, and if a node does not have the capability of processing the first label, the node needs to deliver the BGP TLV to other peers (e.g., upstream devices); type (type) represents the type of the first tag; length (length) represents the length of the BGP TLV; the mode (mode) represents a communication mode between the transmitting device and the receiving device, illustratively, 0x00 represents a tunnel mode, and 0x01 represents a transmission mode. When the communication mode between the sending device and the receiving device is the tunnel mode, the 1/2/3/4/5/6/7 field is all set to 0, which indicates that the traffic flow characteristics are not distinguished, and the first label processing is performed on all the tunneled messages.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, where the communication device may be any node in the MPLS network (such as a provider edge node or a P node), or may also be a partial device of a node in the MPLS network, for example, a chip system in the provider edge node (or the P node). Optionally, the chip system is configured to support a node in the MPLS network to implement the functions involved in the foregoing method embodiments, for example, to receive, send, or process data and/or information involved in the foregoing method. The chip system includes a chip and may also include other discrete devices or circuit structures.

The communication apparatus is configured to perform the steps performed by the first device in the above communication method. The communication device provided by the embodiment of the application can comprise modules corresponding to the corresponding steps.

In the embodiment of the present application, the communication apparatus may be divided into the functional modules according to the method example, for example, each functional module may be divided according to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. The division of the modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

Fig. 15 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the communication apparatus in the present embodiment, in the case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions. As shown in fig. 15, the communication device 15 includes a receiving unit 150 and a processing unit 151.

The receiving unit 150 is configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the receiving operation shown in fig. 4A, 4B or 7, for example: s401, S404, etc., and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.

The processing unit 151 is configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the operations of identifying, reading, determining and the like shown in fig. 4A, 4B or 7, for example: s405, S406, S407, S408, etc., and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.

All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again. Of course, the communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application includes, but is not limited to, the above modules, for example, the communication device may further include a sending unit 152 and a storage unit 153. The transmitting unit 152 may be configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the transmitting operation shown in fig. 4A, 4B or 7, for example: s400, S701, etc., and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. The memory unit 153 may be used to store program codes and data of the communication apparatus.

The entity block diagram of the communication device provided by the present application can refer to fig. 3 described above. The processing unit 151 may be the processor 31 in fig. 3, the transmitting unit 152 and the receiving unit 150 may be the communication interface 33 in fig. 3, and the storage unit 153 may be the memory 32 in fig. 3.

Another embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores instructions that, when executed on a communication apparatus, the communication apparatus executes the steps of the first device in the communication method according to the embodiment shown in fig. 4A, 4B or 7.

In another embodiment of the present application, there is also provided a computer program product comprising computer executable instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium; the processor of the communication apparatus may read the computer-executable instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer-executable instructions to cause the communication apparatus to perform the steps of the first device in the communication method according to the embodiment shown in fig. 4A, 4B or 7.

The communication device is configured to perform the steps performed by the second device in the above communication method. The communication device provided by the embodiment of the application can comprise modules corresponding to the corresponding steps.

Fig. 16 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the communication apparatus in the present embodiment, in the case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions. As shown in fig. 16, the communication device 16 includes a processing unit 161, a transmitting unit 162, and a receiving unit 163.

The processing unit 161 is configured to support the communication device to perform the operations such as the encapsulation shown in fig. 4A, 4B, or 7, for example: s402, S403, etc., and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.

The sending unit 162 is configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the sending operation shown in fig. 4A, 4B, or 7, for example: s401, S404, etc., and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.

The receiving unit 163 may be configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the receiving operation shown in fig. 4A, 4B or 7, for example: s400, etc., and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.

All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again. Of course, the communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application includes, but is not limited to, the above modules, for example, the communication device may further include the storage unit 164. The memory unit 164 may be used for storing program codes and data of the communication apparatus.

The entity block diagram of the communication device provided by the present application can refer to fig. 3 described above. The processing unit 161 may be the processor 31 in fig. 3, the sending unit 162 and the receiving unit 163 may be the communication interface 33 in fig. 3, and the storage unit 164 may be the memory 32 in fig. 3.

Another embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores instructions that, when executed on a communication apparatus, the communication apparatus executes the steps of the second device in the communication method according to the embodiment shown in fig. 4A, 4B or 7.

In another embodiment of the present application, there is also provided a computer program product comprising computer executable instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium; the processor of the communication apparatus may read the computer-executable instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer-executable instructions to cause the communication apparatus to perform the steps of the second device in the communication method according to the embodiment shown in fig. 4A, 4B or 7.

In the above embodiments, all or part of the implementation may be realized by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, may take the form of a computer program product, either entirely or partially. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. The procedures or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are all or partially generated when the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, e.g., the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data terminal including one or more integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

Through the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and simplicity of description, the foregoing division of the functional modules is merely used as an example, and in practical applications, the above function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device may be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the above described functions.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the modules or units is only one logical functional division, and there may be other divisions when actually implemented, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another device, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may be one physical unit or a plurality of physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed in a plurality of different places. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be essentially or partially contributed to by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions may be embodied in the form of a software product, where the software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to enable a device (which may be a single chip, a chip, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure should be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method applied to a multi-protocol label switching, MPLS, network, the MPLS network including a first device and a second device, the communication method comprising:

the first device receives at least one message from the second device via a transmission link, wherein each message in the at least one message comprises a first label, and the first label comprises a serial number of the message;

the first equipment identifies the first label of each message and reads the serial number of each message;

and the first equipment determines the quality parameter of the transmission link according to the serial number of each message, wherein the quality parameter comprises at least one of the numerical value of the out-of-order message, the numerical value of the lost message or the numerical value of the repeated message.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the value of the out-of-order packet is obtained by the first device according to the following procedure:

the first device determines a first value, where the first value is a value of a packet that satisfies a first preset condition among the at least one packet, and the first preset condition is: pre-curr is less than a preset threshold value, or curr-pre is greater than the preset threshold value; curr represents a serial number of a first message, the first message is any one of the at least one message, pre represents a serial number of a second message, the second message is a previous message of the first message received by the first equipment, and 1 < the preset threshold value < a preset maximum serial number;

and the first equipment determines the first numerical value as the numerical value of the out-of-order message.

3. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the value of the missing packet is obtained by the first device according to the following procedure:

the first device determines a second numerical value according to the serial number of each packet, where the second numerical value is a numerical value of a packet that satisfies a second preset condition among the at least one packet, and the second preset condition is: the curr-pre is more than 1 and less than or equal to a preset threshold value, or the preset threshold value is less than or equal to pre-curr and less than a preset maximum serial number; curr represents a serial number of a first message, the first message is any one of the at least one message, pre represents a serial number of a second message, the second message is a previous message of the first message received by the first equipment, and 1 < the preset threshold value < a preset maximum serial number;

and the first equipment determines the difference value between the second numerical value and the numerical value of the out-of-order message as the numerical value of the lost message.

4. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the value of the repeated message is obtained by the first device according to the following procedure:

the first device determines a third value according to the sequence number of each packet, where the third value is a value of a packet that satisfies a third preset condition among the at least one packet, and the third preset condition is: curr is equal to pre, where curr represents a serial number of a first packet, where the first packet is any one of the at least one packet, pre represents a serial number of a second packet, and the second packet is a previous packet of the first packet received by the first device;

and the first equipment determines the third value as the value of the repeated message.

5. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first label further comprises a timestamp of the message; the communication method further comprises:

the first equipment reads the timestamp of each message;

the first equipment acquires the sending time and the receiving time of each message according to the timestamp of each message;

and for each message, the first equipment determines the difference value between the receiving time of the message and the sending time of the message as the time delay of the message.

6. The communication method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

and for each message, the first device determines the difference between the time delay of the message and the time delay of the last message of the message received by the first device as the jitter of the message.

7. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the communication method further comprises:

the first equipment sends indication information to the second equipment; the indication information is used for indicating that the first equipment has the capability of processing the first label and indicating a communication mode of the second equipment for communicating with the first equipment; the at least one message is a message sent by the second device to the first device according to the communication mode.

8. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein each packet further includes a second label, the second label is located at an outer layer of the first label, and the second label is used to indicate that the first label does not participate in load sharing calculation.

9. A communication method, applied to a multi-protocol label switching, MPLS, network, the MPLS network comprising a first device and a second device; the communication method comprises the following steps:

the second device receives indication information sent by the first device, wherein the indication information is used for indicating that the first device has the capability of processing the first label and indicating a communication mode of the second device for communicating with the first device;

under the condition that the second device has the capability of processing the first label, the second device packages the first label for the message to be sent according to the communication mode, the first label comprises a sequence number of the message, the sequence number of the message is used for the first device to determine a quality parameter of a transmission link, the quality parameter comprises at least one of a numerical value of an out-of-order message, a numerical value of a lost message or a numerical value of a repeated message, and the transmission link is a link between the first device and the second device;

and the second equipment sends the packaged message to the first equipment.

10. The communication method according to claim 9, wherein the communication mode is a tunnel mode or a transmission mode;

if the communication mode is the tunnel mode, the messages to be sent are all messages sent by the second device to the first device;

if the communication mode is the transmission mode, the message to be sent is a message with a transmission address as a preset address in all messages sent to the first device by the second device, and the transmission address is a source address of the message and/or a target address of the message.

11. The communication method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the method further comprises:

if the communication between the second device and the first device is in a target scene, the second device packages a third label for the message to be sent; the target scene is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) scene or a Label Switching Path (LSP) scene; if the target scene is a VPN scene, the third label is a VPN label; if the target scene is an LSP scene, the third label is an LSP label;

the second device encapsulates a first tag for a message to be sent, and the method specifically includes:

the second device encapsulates the first label on an outer layer of the third label.

12. A method of communication according to any of claims 9-11, wherein the method further comprises:

and the second device packages a second label for the message to be sent, wherein the second label is located on the outer layer of the first label, and the second label is used for indicating that the first label does not participate in load sharing calculation.

13. The communication method according to any one of claims 9 to 12,

the first tag further comprises a timestamp of the packet, and the timestamp of the packet is used by the first device to determine at least one of latency and jitter.

14. A communications apparatus, applied to a multi-protocol label switching, MPLS, network, the MPLS network including a first device and a second device, the communications apparatus being the first device, the communications apparatus comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive at least one packet from the second device via a transmission link, where each packet in the at least one packet includes a first tag, and the first tag includes a sequence number of the packet;

and the processing unit is configured to identify the first tag of each packet received by the receiving unit, read the serial number of each packet, and determine a quality parameter of the transmission link according to the serial number of each packet, where the quality parameter includes at least one of a value of an out-of-order packet, a value of a lost packet, or a value of a repeated packet.

15. The communications apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein when the quality parameter includes a value of the out-of-order packet, the processing unit is specifically configured to:

determining a first value, where the first value is a value of a packet that satisfies a first preset condition among the at least one packet, and the first preset condition is: pre-curr is less than a preset threshold value, or curr-pre is greater than the preset threshold value; curr represents a serial number of a first message, the first message is any one of the at least one message, pre represents a serial number of a second message, the second message is a previous message of the first message received by the receiving unit, and 1 < the preset threshold value < a preset maximum serial number;

and determining the first numerical value as the numerical value of the out-of-order message.

16. The communication apparatus according to claim 14 or 15, wherein when the quality parameter includes the value of the lost packet, the processing unit is specifically configured to:

determining a second value according to the sequence number of each message, where the second value is a value of a message that satisfies a second preset condition among the at least one message, and the second preset condition is: the curr-pre is more than 1 and less than or equal to a preset threshold value, or the preset threshold value is less than or equal to pre-curr and less than a preset maximum serial number; curr represents a serial number of a first message, the first message is any one of the at least one message, pre represents a serial number of a second message, the second message is a previous message of the first message received by the receiving unit, and 1 < the preset threshold value < a preset maximum serial number;

and determining the difference value between the second numerical value and the numerical value of the out-of-order message as the numerical value of the lost message.

17. The communications device according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein when the quality parameter comprises a value of the duplicate packet, the processing unit is specifically configured to:

determining a third value according to the sequence number of each message, where the third value is a value of a message that satisfies a third preset condition among the at least one message, and the third preset condition is: curr denotes a sequence number of a first message, the first message is any one of the at least one message, pre denotes a sequence number of a second message, and the second message is a previous message of the first message received by the receiving unit;

and determining the third value as the value of the repeated message.

18. The communications apparatus according to any of claims 14-17, wherein the first tag further comprises a timestamp of the message; the processing unit is further to:

reading the timestamp of each message;

acquiring the sending time and the receiving time of each message according to the timestamp of each message;

and determining the difference value between the receiving time of the message and the sending time of the message as the time delay of the message aiming at each message.

19. The communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

and determining the difference value between the time delay of the message and the time delay of the last message of the message received by the receiving unit as the jitter of the message aiming at each message.

20. A communication apparatus according to any of claims 14-19, characterized in that the communication apparatus further comprises a transmitting unit;

the sending unit is configured to send indication information to the second device, where the indication information is used to indicate that the first device has a capability of processing the first tag and indicate a communication mode in which the second device communicates with the first device, and the at least one packet is a packet sent by the second device to the first device according to the communication mode.

21. The communications apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 20, wherein each packet further includes a second label, the second label is located at an outer layer of the first label, and the second label is used to indicate that the first label does not participate in load sharing calculation.

22. A communications apparatus, adapted to be used in a multi-protocol label switching, MPLS, network, the MPLS network comprising a first device and a second device; the communication apparatus is the second device, and the communication apparatus includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive indication information sent by the first device, where the indication information is used to indicate that the first device has a capability of processing the first tag, and indicate a communication mode in which the second device communicates with the first device;

a processing unit, configured to encapsulate a first tag for a to-be-sent packet according to the communication mode indicated by the indication information received by the receiving unit when the second device has a capability of processing the first tag, where the first tag includes a sequence number of the packet, the sequence number of the packet is used by the first device to determine a quality parameter of a transmission link, the quality parameter includes at least one of a value of an out-of-order packet, a value of a lost packet, or a value of a repeated packet, and the transmission link is a link between the first device and the second device;

and the sending unit is used for sending the packaged message obtained by the processing unit to the first equipment.

23. The communications apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein the communication mode is a tunnel mode or a transmission mode;

if the communication mode is the transmission mode, the message to be sent is a message with a transmission address as a preset address in all messages sent to the first device by the second device, and the transmission address is a source address of the message and/or a target address of the message; the processing unit is further configured to determine the message to be sent.

24. The communications device of claim 22 or 23, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

if the communication between the second device and the first device is in a target scene, packaging a third label for the message to be sent; the target scene is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) scene or a Label Switching Path (LSP) scene; if the target scene is a VPN scene, the third label is a VPN label; if the target scene is an LSP scene, the third label is an LSP label;

the processing unit is configured to encapsulate a first tag for a message to be sent, and specifically includes:

the processing unit is used for packaging the first label on the outer layer of the third label.

25. The communication device according to any of claims 22-24,

the processing unit is further configured to encapsulate a second label for the to-be-sent packet, where the second label is located on an outer layer of the first label, and the second label is used to indicate that the first label does not participate in load sharing calculation.

26. The communication device according to any of claims 22-25,

27. A communication apparatus, characterized in that the communication apparatus comprises: a processor and a memory;

the memory is connected with the processor; the memory is for storing computer instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the communication method of any one of claims 1-8 or the communication method of any one of claims 9-13.

28. A communication system, characterized in that the communication system comprises a communication device according to any of the preceding claims 14-21 and a communication device according to any of the preceding claims 22-26.